For the second year in a row, voters in the Lincoln Consolidated School District rejected a 0.25-mill tax increase to subsidize the Lincoln Community Education and Recreation program and the Lincoln Golden Ages Senior Center.

About 13 percent of registered voters turned out Tuesday to vote on Proposal E, which would have raised $251,428 this year for the programs.

The measure lost by an 80-vote margin, 736 to 656. Last year, the proposal lost by 20 votes. Had it been approved, the millage would have been levied for five year. Under last year's millage request, property owners would have paid the tax for 20 years.

Despite the results, Helen Nafranowicz, director of the senior center, said, "we are not defeated."

"We're disappointed, but that's not going to keep us down," she said. "We have a lot of support from the schools and people who worked on the campaign committee. If we put our heads together, we're bound to come up with something."

The Lincoln school board once funded both programs from its general fund budget, but dwindling revenues forced school officials to withdraw their support.

In the past year, community education organizers have had to cancel some classes and raise fees to cover course offerings. The seniors, who hold fundraisers during the year to help pay their bills, hoped money from the millage could pay for part-time personnel, supplies and equipment.